248 The Sweet Potato 



firm. The policy of these men has been to solicit ship- 

 ments direct to the house on the basis of prevailing 

 markets at time of arrival rather than to quote any 

 price in advance. Commission-men have been severely 

 criticized at times as unnecessary middle-men. In 

 former years much of this criticism was brought on 

 by unscrupulous dealers who did not give their cus- 

 tomers honest service. Public opinion and sounder 

 business principles have done much to discourage dis- 

 honest practice, however, and the commission-man has 

 greatly simplified the farmers' marketing problem and 

 no good way has yet been found to eliminate him from 

 the selling program. 



In selling through commission firms, the first step 

 is to learn the names of reliable houses in the nearest 

 markets. It would be well to write the' firm several 

 weeks before shipping season and find out how many 

 potatoes they can use a day or a week, and their terms. 

 It would be wise to get in touch with several firms in 

 the respective big markets in this way. Daily Market 

 Report sheets, which give the prevailing prices in each 

 leading market for that day, may be obtained free of 

 charge from the nearest office of the Bureau of Markets. 

 These should be watched each day. Though they do not 

 tell what a given carload of potatoes will bring a pound 

 or a bushel, they report prices on the actual sales which 

 took place during the day and thus give a very clear 

 indication of the tendency of prices in the various city 

 markets. One or two days before the grower is ready 

 to load his car, he should wire one of the commission- 

 men with whom he has been corresponding, who lives in 

 the particular city where prevailing prices seem to be 

 best as indicated by his Market Eeport Sheet at the 



